harding



' r(No Model.) g

. J. H. HARDING.

METHOD OE ORNAMENTING OPEN MESH WOVEN MATERIAL WIT PLASTICS.

No. 408,710. l Patented Ang. 13, 1889IA I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

JOHN H'HARDING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD 0F ORNAMENTING OPEN-MESH WOVEN MATERIAL WITH PLASTICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,710, dated August 13, 1889.

Application filed March 10, 1888. Serial No. 266,916. (No specimens.)

To all whom, t may concern: Y

Be it known that I, JOHN Il. HARDING, a citizen ofthe United States, residing in New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Method of Ornamenting Open-Mesh Voven Material with Plastics in Solid Relief Ornamentation; and I do hereby declare the following a full and clear delscription of the same, reference being had also to the accompanying drawings, which fully illustrate the resultof the method, and in which Figure 1 shows the plastic formed on the absorbent paper ready to receive the fabric. Fig. 2 represents the fabric on the plastic and the plastic formed on the fabric. Fig. 3 represents the absorbent material partly removed froln the back of the ornamentation.

A represents the absorbent paper; B, the plastic or ornamentation; O, the fabric.

The object of my invention is to form upon woven-wire fabric or other open wovenmaterial ornamental designs, rosettes, scrolls, letters, (be, in solid relief for decorative and other purposes, (as mayV be suggested froln time to time;) also the finishing of the same in bronze while forming the ornamentation upon woven-wire fabric or like woven material.

To carry my invention into effect, I lay the fabric to be ornamented upon absorbent paper or other suitable absorbent material. (Felt or cartridge-paper is preferable.) The design to be produced upon the fabric can be drawn upon the absorbent paper to be placed under the fabric. I then mix Whiting or plaster-of-paris with any coloring material, adding glue size and mixing until it becomes apaste. Any other adhesive material can be used of a plastic nature, whether mixed with oil or water. I nowthin the plastic mass or paste to a consistency so it can be poured from a suitable vessel. I 'then pour the semi-liquid plastic over the fabric, following the drawing on the absorbent paper beneath the fabric, which can easily be seen through the meshes of coarse-woven fabric; or the plastic can be poured at pleasure without having to be guidedby a drawing on the absorbent material. The plastic falling through the fabric will fill and surround the interstices of the fabric in the form desired, and will adhere to the absorbent material below the fabric. It is now necessary (while the plastic is yet soft) to bronze the ornamentation by blowing dry bronze into the soft plastic mass from large or small bellows, as the work may demand. Thereby the bronze becomes incorporated into the surface of the plastic andwhen dry will be ready to receive any desired'degree of burnish. The ornamentation is now completed by removing the absorbent paper from the plastic (if its removal is desired) when the plastic is partially dry, as will become known by experience.

It is not necessary that the plastic shall be poured over the fabric. It can be applied first to the absorbent paper and coarse-woven fabric dropped or pressed into the plastic,

mass, which will fill the meshes of the fabric leaving', however, an imprint of the meshes of the fabric. Vhere duplicate work is desired, I place an open mold-pattern or stencilplates of any desired design ove'r the fabric to be ornamented, the fabric having absorbent paper or other suitable absorbent material underneath to receive and hold the semiliquid ornamenting plastic. I then pour the plastic over the surface, filling around the meshes through the design-mold to any reasonable relief desired, according to the size of the design or openings and consistency of the plastic. The thickness of the material from which the pattern or stencil is made does not necessarily determine the relief of the ornamentation above the surface of the fabric. The ornamentation can be stippled with a brush, giving it a pulled irregular surface. Any unevenness in a fabric preventing it from lying iiat does not interfere with the work (if not tacked down.) A slight pressure of the hand to the fabric while applying the plastic will cause the plastic to hold the absorbent paper and draw it up to the fabric. If; I desire the surface of the ornamentation perfectly smooth and the edges round, if after removing the pattern or mold the borders or edges of the plastic are not round, a rap or jostle will bring the desired effect. The absorption caused by the proper material beneath the fabric prevents the. plastic from IOO spreading. The plastics herein named and many others in common use will answer for all ordinary decorative work applied as herein described, the process being both novel and artistic in its results, and as far as my knowledge extends I consider myself the first to ornament coarse or fine woven wire fabric or material of like woven nature and finish the same in the manner herein described.

I am aware that walls, ceilings, and other surfaces have been heretofore ornamented by applying thereto a stencil plate or pattern and then filling the openings in the pattern with plaster or other suitable material, and do not claim the same herein, as it is set out in Patent No. 278,238, granted to me, and in Patent No. 333,459, granted to Gibson; but

That I do desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The method of ornamcnting coarse or fine open-meshed material, the same consisting in placing beneath the open-meshed material absorbent paper or like absorbent material, and pouring over the open-meshed material a semi-liquid plastic in any desired forln, which adheres to the open-meshed material and absorbent paper beneath, substantially as sct forth.

2. The method of ornamenting coarse or fine meshed material, thc same consisting in placing beneath the open -meshed material absorbent paper or other absorbent material, and pouring over the open-meshed material a semi-liquid plastic in any desired form, which adheres to the open-meshed material and absorbent paper beneath, and then finishing the same in bronze While the plastic is soft, then removing the absorbing material, and leaving the ornamentation upon the open-meshed fabric, substantially as set forth. 3. The method of ornamenting coarse or fine open-mesh material, the same consisting in placing woven-Wire fabric or like material upon absorbent paper or similar absorbent material, and then placing over the wire fabric or other open-mesh material astcncil pattern or design of desired form, and pouring over and through the same a semi-liquid plastic which fastens itself into and around the meshes of the Wire fabric or other open-wo ven material, substantially as set forth.

4. The method of ornamenting coarse or line open-mesh material, the same consisting in applying thereto a semi-liquid plastic material and bronzing the same while the plastic is soft and adhesive, substantially as set forth.

JOHN I'I. HARDING.

Vitnesses:

JOSEPH SULLIVAN,

I. D. KRAMER. 

